2015 Masters - Allen survives the game

After such great displays
of snooker the time came for a more peculiar way of playing the game, as Mark
Allen and Joe Perry took the stage to dispute their quarter-final match.

After a long and tiring
match that features two great players, but not at their best, Allen won by 6-4
to set a semi-final meeting with the winner of tonight's match: Shaun Murphy or
Stephen Maguire.

The first session was very
edgy, both players struggling to settle in, while the biggest break was Joe's
49 from frame two. This was actually the Englishman's response for Allen
winning the opener.

More drama was served to
the snooker fans during frame three which Mark won on the black, followed
by the fourth one that was conquered with a quite more fluent snooker (runs of
46 and 30) for a 3-1 lead.

Nothing seemed to change
after the lads returned from their mini-break, but Joe looked more determined.
Hence, he scrapped his way back into the match and levelled the scoreline with
a top break of 50.

Allen put his nose back in
front at 4-3, but Perry pulled another special break of 67 to draw level once
more.

Although the standard of
playing wasn't doing any justice to both cueists, the Northern Ireland player
seemed more determined than Joe, so with runs of 55 and 36 ended the
Englishman's run in the Masters and secured himself a place in Saturday's
semi-final.

After the match, Allen was
invited in the BBC interview-room where he joked about his performance: "I
was like you (pointing to Hendry) towards the end of your career".

The last quarter-finals
match will start, as usual, from 7pm. Two more great names are crossing their
cues: Shaun Murphy and Stephen Maguire. Don't miss them!